586 Veterinary Obstetrics 



When the fetus presents posteriorly, the points which offer the 

 most secure insertion for hooks are the borders of the bones of the 

 pelvis. The hooks may be implanted in front of the pubic brim 

 or of the ilium, or in the oval foramen, either from without or 

 within. It is much safer to insert the hook in the pelvis from 

 without, inwards. If inserted from within, the point of the 

 hook must be constantly guarded, lest it push through the soft 

 tissues of the fetus and lacerate the genital canal of the mother. 



Obstetric forceps of great variety have been proposed by 

 various writers, but they have not come into general use and ap- 

 parently cannot serve any important purpose in the larger ani- 

 mals. The immense forceps of Jorg are too voluminous and 

 heavy to be applied to the head of the fetus in the genital canal 

 and, were they once applied, no power of anj' efficiency could be 

 exerted thereon. Various types of these forceps have been in- 

 vented, but each alike has failed to serve any purpose. 



In smaller animals obstetric forceps have proven highly u.seful 

 and practical. They constitute one of the safest and most effi- 

 cient methods for applying traction to the fetus of the cat, bitch, 

 sow and, to a lesser degree, the ewe and goat. Some of the most 

 useful of these are illustrated in Fig. 93. 



Among the various means for the application of traction, the 

 safest is the cord. It constitutes the only appliance which the 

 operator can leave unguarded. 



The application of traction to the fetus in cases of dys- 

 tokia will vary largely in the intensity allowable, the direction in 

 which it is best to exert it and the means which may most use- 

 fully be employed in developing the necessary force. 



The direction in which traction is to be applied will de- 

 pend very largely upon the attitude of the fetus and the point 

 which it has reached in the birth channel. As we have alreadj^ 

 suggested in a preceding chapter, the fetus of our domestic ani- 

 mals, and especially of the larger ones, normally assumes a some- 

 what curved position. The ventral surface of the fetus is con- 

 cave and the dorsal is convex, which curvature may be increased 

 very greatly by artificial means, but the normal curve in the fetal 

 body does not readily undergo obliteration or reversal by the fetal 

 body being bent dor.salwards. 



As the fetus approaches the pelvic inlet, in our larger domestic 

 animals, and especially in those cases where the animal is stand- 



